I missed the buzz around this game when it first came out, but when I saw that the sequel was going to be released this year, I figured now was the best time to finally check this game out. And I'm glad I did, in some ways.
First off, let's talk about the story because, honestly, this is the reason why people have praised this game so much. It is very impressive what Ninja Theory was able to pull off here. After watching the Hellblade Feature in game, I was able to respect even more all of the different aspects of psychosis that they were able to incorporate into the game's story and environment. I love the backdrop of Norse mythology that the story takes place in and the visuals in this game are incredible. As far as the story goes, I will say that I didn't really start to truly care for our main character, Senua, until the last third or so of the game, once all of the major story beats were revealed and started to wrap up together very nicely. Definitely go into this game blind if you can, as the story is by far the best aspect of this game.
Now we get to the actual gameplay, in this VIDEO GAME! And it is not that great to be honest. The combat is actually pretty decent in this game I thought, but it's very basic with only a handful of enemy types and very simple button ology. The puzzles are very basic as well and get pretty tedious as the game goes on. There are also quite a few walking simulator-esqe points throughout the game, which tended to kill the pacing for me. I hope that in the sequel they are able to add more variety and complexity to the fighting and puzzle mechanics to make the gameplay actually fun. If you're playing this game and expect great gameplay, then you are going to be very disappointed.
Overall, I feel like everyone should experience this story told here, as this is by far the best aspect of this game. That being said, maybe this would have worked better as a film, because the gameplay definitely drags the overall experience down quite a bit, which prevents me from fully loving this game. I wouldn't say this game is absolutely fantastic, as other popular reviewers have stated, as I still prefer having great gameplay over a great story in my games. I would recommend this game, but just know what you're getting into as far as the actual gameplay to story balance in quality is.
7/10
First off, let's talk about the story because, honestly, this is the reason why people have praised this game so much. It is very impressive what Ninja Theory was able to pull off here. After watching the Hellblade Feature in game, I was able to respect even more all of the different aspects of psychosis that they were able to incorporate into the game's story and environment. I love the backdrop of Norse mythology that the story takes place in and the visuals in this game are incredible. As far as the story goes, I will say that I didn't really start to truly care for our main character, Senua, until the last third or so of the game, once all of the major story beats were revealed and started to wrap up together very nicely. Definitely go into this game blind if you can, as the story is by far the best aspect of this game.
Now we get to the actual gameplay, in this VIDEO GAME! And it is not that great to be honest. The combat is actually pretty decent in this game I thought, but it's very basic with only a handful of enemy types and very simple button ology. The puzzles are very basic as well and get pretty tedious as the game goes on. There are also quite a few walking simulator-esqe points throughout the game, which tended to kill the pacing for me. I hope that in the sequel they are able to add more variety and complexity to the fighting and puzzle mechanics to make the gameplay actually fun. If you're playing this game and expect great gameplay, then you are going to be very disappointed.
Overall, I feel like everyone should experience this story told here, as this is by far the best aspect of this game. That being said, maybe this would have worked better as a film, because the gameplay definitely drags the overall experience down quite a bit, which prevents me from fully loving this game. I wouldn't say this game is absolutely fantastic, as other popular reviewers have stated, as I still prefer having great gameplay over a great story in my games. I would recommend this game, but just know what you're getting into as far as the actual gameplay to story balance in quality is.
7/10